Draft:PracticeLink

PracticeLink is an American employment website for physicians, launched in November 1994 as the first physician job board on the Internet. It is headquartered in Hinton, West Virginia, with a second office in St. Louis, Missouri.

History
In 1994, entrepreneur Ken Allman established PhysicianPracticeNetwork, soon renamed PracticeLink, as a subscription-based early World Wide Web service designed to match physicians and mid-level practitioners with recruiters. Prior to PracticeLink, as in most fields, physician job listings were circulated physically nationwide. As the internet gained prominence, online job boards emerged in other fields: Allman was an early adopter, setting up servers in his apartment to create the site.

Also reflecting its early role in the industry, Practicelink posted the first recruitment video to the Internet. At the time, it was a process of taking film and digitizing for the Internet. The video accompanied a physician job posting. Since the creation of PracticeLink, Allman has received numerous recognitions for his role in the development of online employment sites, including making the Inc. 2017 list of greatest entrepreneurs and one of the top 100 most influential talent acquisition thought leaders by recruitment technology association TAtech. In 2014, Allman was named the West Virginia Small Business Person of the Year by the United States Small Business Administration.

Operations
Reflecting its original role as a job matching service, PracticeLink aggregates job listings from American hospitals, medical groups, healthcare systems, academic institutions, government agencies, the United States military, and employment agencies. PracticeLink represents more than 5,000 healthcare facilities nationwide and is actively used by tens of thousands of physicians and advanced practitioners.

Since its inception as an online employment matching service, PracticeLink has expanded into operating as a career advancement resource for physicians. In 2009, PracticeLink acquired the magazine Unique Opportunities, rebranded as PracticeLink Magazine. The magazine combined PracticeLink’s job resources with content services and has a quarterly print circulation of about 100,000, alongside digital content access. The magazine focuses on job search steps and timelines, interview stages, and contract and compensation best practices. It has received national recognition, including three awards from the American Society of Business Publication Editors.

In addition to its magazine and online matching services, it sponsors physician career fairs and provides educational content for physicians and residents on topics including interviewing, contract negotiations, medical license needs, and relocation considerations. As a single-subject search engine for physicians, its central function is an example of vertical search, given that PracticeLink works with most healthcare organizations in the U.S. in every medical specialty, including large specialty fields such as family medicine and emergency medicine, along with services for nurse practitioners and physician assistants.

PracticeLink has been recognized as one of the best places to work in healthcare by Modern Healthcare and Becker’s Hospital Review.